1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a capsule endoscope and, more particularly, to a capsule endoscope that is configured such that the inside of internal organs can be more easily photographed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, endoscopes have a camera and an illumination lamp mounted on one end of a flexible hose. When the endoscope is inserted into a body, the illumination lamp emits light and the camera photographs an internal organ of the body and transmits photographed images to a monitor, so that the internal organ can be checked.
Endoscopes have undergone extensive development and are widely used in the medical field in response to the development of fiber optics and the development of micro camera technologies.
Endoscopes cause pain and an unpleasant feeling in patients when they undergo an examination because the flexible hose must be inserted into the internal organ as described above via the gullet or the anus, and thus are not welcomed by patients.
In an example, in the case of a colon endoscope, the pain that a patient suffers and the accuracy of judgment about a lesion are greatly be determined the experience and skillfulness of a doctor.
In order to overcome such problems with endoscopes, a capsule endoscope that a patient can swallow was recently developed.
The capsule endoscope has a wireless camera system mounted on the capsule. Information about images of an internal organ of a human body taken by the wireless camera system is transmitted to the outside so that the inside of the internal organ of a person can be examined.
However, the capsule endoscope is configured such that it passively moves due to vermiculation of internal organs of a human body after being input into the organs through the gullet. Therefore, the problem is that images can be taken only when the capsule endoscope is naturally digested in the digestive system.
In addition, there is a problem in that the capsule endoscope cannot concentrically photograph an object that is the target of observation, in particular, a specific digestive system. Furthermore, it is impossible to observe a region that requires re-observation by moving the capsule endoscope back to that same region.
Moreover, there is a problem in that the capsule endoscope requires fasting state.